Soldier given suspended sentence for abusing junior troops, forcing them to eat his boogers

A man in his 20s who repeatedly abused junior soldiers during his military service received a suspended prison sentence.

Judge Woo Sang-beom of Changwon District Court's Criminal Division 6 on Tuesday sentenced A, a man in his 20s, to one year and six months in prison, suspended for three years, on charges of aggravated assault and violations of the Military Criminal Act.

A was indicted on charges of assaulting and mistreating junior soldiers while serving at the Naval Education and Training Command in Jinhae-gu, Changwon, South Gyeongsang Province, between July 2023 and January 2024.

According to the ruling, A punched a junior soldier in the stomach multiple times without provocation while the soldier was working out at a gym in July 2023, and also struck the victim's feet with a baseball bat. In January 2024, he beat three junior soldiers on their buttocks with an aluminum broom, cursing at them for eating frozen food without his permission. He also forced them to cook and eat nine cups of ramyun.

A also struck a junior soldier in the stomach for being unable to do pull-ups and kicked another in the thigh for no reason.

Further abuse included forcing a junior soldier on duty with him to smoke an e-cigarette, ordering soldiers not to let a conversation lapse for more than five seconds, making them perform squats while holding heavy exercise equipment, and putting boogers from his own hand into a junior soldier's mouth.

A was discharged in January 2024. In November last year, a separate ruling sentencing him to one year and six months in prison, suspended for three years, on charges including forced indecent acts against a fellow soldier had already been finalized.

Judge Woo said the sentence reflected that A "repeatedly committed offenses against junior soldiers serving in the same unit, showing poor conduct, and no settlement was reached with the victims."

[르포] 2시간 불법주차도 딱지 못떼는 현실…무법지대 선거유세차 ‘눈살’ [세상&]

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